Choices of the Banished Prince
by skyblue0291
Summary: When Zuko makes a decision, will he chose right or wrong? Set after Crossroads of Destiny. Zutara RR DISCONTINUED
1. Descision Time

"Head a course for the Fire Nation, Captain!" Azula spited towards the Captain as they sailed west towards their homeland. Azula had decided to leave the Earth Kingdom city to bring the news home to her father. Ty Lee and Mai were in charge of the city whilst she headed home. She trusted them and she knew they would do anything she said. They were left in charge of the Dai Lee, so if anyone opposed them, they would be taken out in an instance. The Dai Lee were in their control, they had full power of Ba Sing Se.

"Are you happy to return home Zuzu?"

"Don't call me that!" Zuko felt heat coming to his face as he shot a glare at his sister.

"I'll take that as a yes then," Azula smirked and turned to face the royal chair at the back of the engineer room. She sat and stared out the window at the front of the room to see nothing but blue waters. Her boredom was getting the better of her at this point, but she chose not to show it. Instead she sat upright and tight, as though she were going to strike someone down. She could sense all the men in the room were weary of her presence, but hid their faces so as not to let their emotions be seen. Zuko hadn't moved from his position since they board the ship. Azula knew exactly what he was thinking about. Her eyes narrowed and moved to where he was standing. He leaned against the side of the room and hung his head. He was thinking about their uncle, imprisoned below the ship, wasting away, but bearly being kept alive. _Father will be glad to see his traitor of a brother back home in time for torture,_ she thought. She knew that Zuko would have nothing to do with it though. Her plan was fool proof. All she needed to do was keep him on the ship until he got home, then he would be locked away along with his uncle! Her head turned back to the view out of the window. She was tired and wanted to go and get some rest. "I'm going to my chamber, if that's OK with everyone?!" She saw everyone's shoulders relax slightly as she turned and walked out of the room. Zuko's head turned as the door slammed shut behind her. He looked around to see everyone ease at their work. He looked back to the floor, questions running through his head, _"Why did I betray Uncle? Why am I helping my evil sister throw more misery and suffering to the world? Is my honour still because of my father? What if my father doesn't accept me back? …What if Katara hates me for my decision."_ His head became consumed of the young waterbender's glistening blue eyes. He heaved a deep sigh "I have to talk to Uncle." He pushed himself up from his position and turned to walk out the door. Walking down the corridor, he heard moans coming from the prison chambers. He quickened his pace, just fast enough to make it seem like he wasn't running. Guards stood on either side of the prison chamber door.

"I have to speak with General Iroh!"

The guard moved his head and the dark eyes of the fire nation armour looked down into Zuko's golden eyes. The guard looked towards the other, and he nodded. The guard unlocked the main door to the prison hold, and straight infront of him, was the barred entrance to Iroh's chamber. Zuko walked slowly up to the door, and looked through the small window. The bars gave his just enough space to see his uncle. Zuko gasped in horror as he looked down to his uncle. Iroh jumped slightly and saw his nephew looking down from the small window.

"Glad to see you're looking well."

"Uncle…"

His uncle gave him a weak smile. Zuko's eye's filled with tears as he tried to take his eye's off his wasted away relative. Zuko wiped his eyes with his sleeve and turned back to Iroh.

"I have to talk to you…"

"I'm listening," he smiled and struggled to stand up. Although it had only been 5 days since they left the city, Zuko noticed a huge change in his uncle's appearance. One being that his clothes were starting to fall off him, and that his hair had grown a lot since he last saw him in the caves.

"I have to talk to you about my choice…did I make the right one?"

"It's not about whether the choice you made was the right one or not, it's about whether you feel that it was for the better. Would you have rather have been with your father and Azula, so that the Fire Nation could take over the world, or would you have rather helped the Avatar?"

"But which one was the right choice uncle?"

"You decisions are not up to me. You are a free man, and you should do what is right for you."

Zuko hung his head and pressed his brow against the bars. "I don't know what to do anymore uncle." He wanted to gain his fathers love and respect, but he didn't want to se his uncle die. His mind went back to the Avatar. What would have happened if he had joined them? Would he have been accepted? Or would he have been rejected…?

His uncle was still looking back at his nephew. Zuko knew what he had to do. He turned and left to walk out. Iroh kept his eyes on Zuko until the prison door closed. He lay down on the thin blanket that had been given to him by the guards and closed his eyes.


	2. An Escape To Find You

Iroh woke up to the sound of clashes hitting the floor. He jolted up and listened to what was going on. The noises stopped for a moment before the main prison door burst open. In the doorway stood Zuko with his broadswords in each hand, and the guards lay motionless on the floor. Zuko steeped forward, just close enough to see his uncles face looking up at him through the bars. Iroh smiled and shifted to the back of his cell. Zuko used firebending with his swords to open the cell door. He reached out his arm to pulled his uncle up onto his feet.

"We're going after the Avatar," Zuko said as he smiled with his uncle. They drew in and hugged each other before running out of the prison chamber and running down the corridors trying to find the way out. "Azula might have heard the blast Zuko!" his uncle exclaimed whilst trying to keep up with his nephew.

"I don't care, we are getting off this ship!"

As they turned the corner, they saw the silhouette of Azula standing in the exit.

"How did I know you would do something like this Zuzu?"

Zuko's anger rose and tightened the grip on his broadswords. Azula took a stance and prepared to knock them both out. Zuko did the same to defend themselves from the lightning that was to come. Azula smirked and shot a blue flame at Iroh. Zuko quickly knocked it out of the way and tightening his stance. Another lightning attack came from her fingers, again aimed at Iroh, but again Zuko directed it away from them.

"Enough with this game!" An even powerful attack came from her, and as Zuko was about to direct it away, it hit his swords knocking him to the ground. Iroh gasped and bent down to lift him up when yet another lightning attack directed at Iroh. He ducked, then quickly got up into a stance. Azula aimed for his heart and a bolt of lightning came towards him. Iroh turned and took the lightning into his system. He then turned and redirected it towards Azula. Her face was surprised and tried to defend herself by putting up a blue flame shield, but her attack had been too powerful and hit her in the stomach. She lay unconscious on the floor of the corridor. Iroh turned back to Zuko and motioned him to wake up. Zuko opened his eyes, just wide enough to see his uncle's expression. Iroh smiled and reached out a hand to help Zuko up. Zuko stood up and turned to look at his sister lying on the floor. They walked by her and opened the exit door. Luckily there was an emergency boat, just big enough for the two of them, hanging on the side of the ship. The dropped down into the boat and steadily lowered it into the sea. Two oars lay on either side of the boat. They both grabbed hold of one and started to row away from the ship that might have changed their lives for the worse if Zuko hadn't made the right decision. Zuko looked back towards the fir nation ship and narrowed his eyes. _"I'm coming Katara"_


	3. Setting Off

In the distance, a huge wall running along a coastline could be seen. After a few more hours they made it to shore. Iroh and Zuko climbed out and rested on the sand, resting their arms after hours of rowing. They both knew that they wouldn't be able to hide in Ba Sing Se as refugee's again, not after the Dai Lee found out their identities. Zuko saw a forest to the right of him.

"Maybe we should hide in that forest over there" as he pointed towards a large area clouded with trees.

"Yes, knowing that we can't go back to the city, it would be wise to hide out there until we can get transport to another location."

Zuko hung his head and thought about the Avatar. Where could they be?

"Zuko, if we are going to be joining the Avatar, we will have to find them first."

"Uncle they could be anywhere! They have their bison back now. They could be going to the fire nation!"

"If we had stayed on that ship and made it to the firenation, we would not have had the freedom we wanted. You know what would have happened if we did stay."

"I don't want to loose you to my father again. I don't want anything to do with my father or my sister."

"I can understand that Zuko. But you now have to decide what to do now. Do you want to work with the Avatar to bring down your father? Or do you want to stay with the group even after your father is brought down?"

"…I want to stay with Katara."

"I can understand the feelings you have with the young waterbender, but does she have the same feelings for you?"

"…I don't know."

"Try and get some rest. We will search for the Avatar and his friends tomorrow."

Zuko lay on his back and looked up at the red sky that was being chased by a dark blue sky. Stars could be seen coming to view in the horizon. Zuko closed his eyes and listened to the rhythm of the waves crashing against the rocks on the shore. Iroh looked down to his tired nephew and lay down beside him. _Poor Zuko. He's gone through so much in his life. He needs to start settling down and make some new friends._ Iroh closed his eyes and his last view for the night was Zuko's scar.

The next morning Zuko woke up to the smell of fish cooking on a stone stove.

"Good morning nephew!"

Zuko yawned and sniffed the cooked fish air.

"We'll be setting off in a while. Eat up. You will need your strength for our journey."

Zuko took the fish and ate all of it except the bones. He put the plate down and stood up. He looked out to the forest where they would be setting off to. After his uncle had cleared everything away, they began their walk to the forest.


	4. Forest Found

Zuko and Iroh had been walking through the forest for about and hour now. The sun peeked through the trees and cast shadows on the ground. Zuko's feet were starting to ache and his breathing had slowed down dramatically. _Where are we? _Zuko thought. He turned his head back and tried to see the entrance where they came in. Nothing. Just hundreds of trees camped together, just like his thoughts. His mind had now turned into mush and he had so much he wanted answering. He tried not to think about it and quickened his pace slightly. Although his uncle was weaker than him, he seemed to be enjoying the long walk, and didn't look tired in the slightest. Zuko decided to take a break for a short moment. His uncle saw him walk to the side of where they were walking and sat down beside a tree.

Iroh joined him and almost seemed to struggle and he sat down. Trying to catch his breath, Zuko heard something in the distance. It wasn't very loud, but it sounded like a roar. He turned his head to the direction of where the noise came from. Suddenly, he looked up to see the large bison flying over the top of the forest. Zuko quickly stood up to see which way they were heading.

"Uncle! I just saw the Avatar's bison! Maybe we can catch up with it!"

Zuko helped his uncle stand up and quickly walked in the direction the bison had flown. Zuko walked just fast enough for his uncle to keep up with him. After 20 minutes they eventually came to the edge of a clearing and saw the 10 ton bison laying to one side while the Avatar and his friends unpacked.

_How should we approach? _Zuko thought to himself.

"This was a great place to spend the night guys!" Aang said to the rest of the group.

"Yeah the clearing is far from Ba Sing Se and it's very unlikely that anyone will find us here!" Katara rejoiced as she helped her brother unload the supplies off of Appa.

Zuko saw Toph slide down the side of the bison and land on the ground. As she landed, she hesitated. Her eyes narrowed looking over to the side.

"Better think again Twinkle Toes."

"Why? What is it Toph?"

"We have company…"


	5. Accepting

Zuko's eye's widened to see Toph cautiously walking over to where they were hiding. Iroh tuned to Zuko and smiled, "don't worry nephew, I'll sort this out," Iroh whispered to his nephew. Zuko looked at him with a confused expression on his face. His eyes followed his uncle as Iroh stood up. Zuko turned his head towards the Avatar's group as they looked at Iroh. Aang and Sokka's faces were shocked, Toph's was happy and Katara's was dumbfounded.

"Oh hey there! Glad to see you escaped the fire nation!" Toph exclaimed cheerfully.

"I was really fortunate actually. If my nephew hadn't have been there to rescue me, I might not have come out alive." Iroh explained in a low voice.

"Wait a minute, how do you two know each other?" Katara asked still with the confused expression on her face.

"He's a good friend of mine. He gave me tea and some good advice that time I went off by myself."

The expression on Katara's face quickly faded and grew into a smile. Iroh walked into the clearing and Toph walked back over to Appa.

"Me and my nephew want to help you in defeating my brother the Fire Lord."

"Zuko's with you?!" Katara's face changed into a shocked expression, with a slight hint of happiness added as well.

"Yes. He has become very wise over the last few days and has made an honourable decision."

Iroh turned round and motioned his nephew to stand up. Zuko stood with his usual frown in place, as he looked directly at the Avatar, and then turned his eyes over to Katara.

"So why did you decide to help us defeat the fire lord?" Aang asked looking at Zuko.

"Zuko has realised that his life has been very confusing, and that his father is not whom he expected to be. Azula must have been plotting against him. Zuko has made a wise choice about choosing good, instead of bad."

With that last note, Zuko narrowed his eyes and hung his head as if ashamed.

Katara looked at Zuko and smiled and congratulated him in her mind.

"How do we know you're not plotting against us, or should I say plotting against Aang?!" Sokka's voice interrupted her applause.

"How do we know you haven't got an army of fire nation soldiers waiting to capture him?!"

Katara's mind switched to their event in the old undergrounds of Ba Sing Se, where they had fought against one another, even after he had given her his trust.

Zuko, still with his eyes on Katara noticed her face turn from a smile into a frown. His eyes widened at this sight. He knew wehat she was thinking about. He knew very well what they were all thinking about. His actions might have cost lives. The Avatar. His uncle. And may be even Katara's.

"I know you are all blaming Zuko for putting your lives in danger. But his attitude has changed dramatically. And he is very sorry about it, aren't you?"

Iroh's head turned to look at Zuko. There was a pause, and everyone was almost leaning over in order to hear what they most rightfully deserved. Zuko merged his head upright and looked at Katara. His face turned soft. Katara had seen this face before, down in the caves. And just like before, his tune in the exact same way, the silence was broken.

"I'm sorry"


	6. Comfort At Heart

Katara's face glowed, and the smile grew back. Her softness expressed in the same way as his.

"OK. We'll let you join the group to bring down the Fire Lord." Aang said with a calm expression upon his face.

"Aang are you crazy? Did you not just hear what I said? They could be leading us right into a trap!" Sokka pleaded, waiting to see if anyone else agreed with him.

"Sokka, we have to. They can help us defeat the Fire Lord."

"It is quite understandable for you not to believe us, but we are just as in need for balance. Since the war started, the world has seemed incomplete. My brother needs to be brought down."

"Then we'll work together."

"OK, but we'll have to keep watch in case the Fire Nation discovers our location."

Everyone helped unpack the rest of their supplies off Appa. Katara, Toph, Sokka and Iroh slept in sleeping bags while Zuko and Aang slept on the dry earth. The nights were beginning to get warmer due to Summer being round the corner, and Iroh wouldn't have been able to have slept because of his loss of weight over the past few days, so Aang gave up his sleeping bag. Zuko wouldn't have got to sleep if he had a sleeping bag due to his body warmth. Even without a sleeping bag, he still couldn't sleep. Zuko's mind was still running with questions. _What happens now? Will I be able to bring down my father? What happens if I, or, we don't defeat him? Has Katara forgiven me?_ As much as he tried, sleep was an almost impossible task for him tonight. He had to clear his head. He got up and tried to make as little noise as possible, but quietness was also against him tonight and Katara awoke to see Zuko walking into the forest. She decided to go after him and see what was bothering him.

After a while she saw him sitting on log. He had a concentrated expression on his golden glowing face as played with a small flame in his hands. Katara crept up in front of him and paused when she was a few feet away. Zuko noticed her and looked up with his eyes without moving his face. His eyes went back to concentrating on the flame. She moved and sat down next to him. His hands closed and the flame disappeared. His concentrated expression loosened and relaxed as his hands onto his lap.

There was a small pause before Katara broke it.

"What you did, the decision you made…it was the right one."

"But how do we know that? How do we know that my decision could lead to more devastation and suffering?" His voice was calm and low. More comfortable than what Katara expected to receive.

"That decision you made? The one where you saved your uncle instead of helping Azula? That was a right choice."

"But if I had made the wrong decision, I would have led a life with my sister and father, and more people would have suffered or died, and my uncle would have been taken prisoner. I was afraid of what could have happened. So many people would have died…even you could have died…" Katara looked at him as he closed his eyes tight. She put a hand on his shoulder. His eyes opened up and looked at Katara. She was smiling. His face loosened and his eyes were locked into hers.

"…But you didn't."

Suddenly, they were lost in each others gaze, locked in a world of their own. Katara broke the gaze and looked towards his scar. Zuko saw her face change. Her eyes became watery, and a sheet of sadness spread across her face. She went to touch it. His eyes closed and he concentrated on the softness of her cool hands.

He knew what she was thinking. If Aang hadn't have been helped, the world's last hope for peace would have been lost forever. She almost felt like she should have used the Spirit Oasis water on his scar, but he knew it was for the best.

She released her hand from his face and calmly placed it on her lap. Zuko opened his eyes and looked into hers once again as she smiled at him.

"We should be heading back to the campsite" she said with a smile as she turned her view to his. She got up and walked back in the direction to which she came. She stopped and turned back to look at him. He sat still looking back at her. She smiled and turned back to her route. He sighed and hung his head. Everything he had been questioning seemed to have disappeared. All the questions that had been running through his head. Gone. She seemed to make all his troubles vanish. He loved her and that was all that mattered. He got up and walked to follow Katara's direction back to camp.


	7. Practice Makes Perfect

**OK so this chapter is…kind of long, but don't worry because it gets REAL good nearer the end! Enjoy!**

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As morning dawned, Zuko awoke to the smell of cooking fish. He opened his eyes and sat up to yawn out his sleep. The fire had been lit and Katara and Aang were sitting around it talking. He got up and walked over to them.

"Good morning. Are you usually up so early?" asked Katara as she served up the individual fish.

"No." replied Zuko as he sat down beside her.

"We're usually up early in the morning so that Aang can go and catch fish while I set up the fire." She handed him a piece of fish and he looked at it for a moment before taking a bite. Aang sat quietly eating berries he had also gone in search for.

Toph soon emerged from the earth tent she had made and yawned as she walked over to where the fire was burning.

"Fish again?! Isn't there anything on this earth apart from fish?" Toph complained.

"Well if SOKKA were to get up in the morning, we could eat something other than fish for once!" Katara shouted in the direction of where Sokka lay fast asleep in his sleeping bag. He shuffled and gave out a loud snore. Katara frowned and kept that face as she continued serving out fish. Zuko felt like he could have done something to help out with breakfast. He could have gone hunting and captured a fox deer for them to eat. He knew just by what he was eating, that Aang was a vegetarian. Next up was Iroh. Considering he was still pretty weak, he seemed a lot better than yesterday. Colour had come back to his face and his attitude seemed a lot brighter. Thank Agni that he was OK and getting better as time went on.

"Hey there! Did you have a good sleep?" Toph asked as he sat next to her.

"Yes thank you, I am feeling a lot better now that I have got some proper rest."

5 days in that prison hold had done a number on him. He was glad not to be sleeping on the cold metal floor with just a blanket to keep the cold getting to him much. The earth outside was warm due to the middle of summer closing in…

Eventually, after everyone had finished their fish, Sokka came strolling over and sat next to Iroh. Katara gave him the fish which she had kept warm near the fire. He quickly gulped it down and asked for more. Katara rolled her eyes as she served him the last fish, which had been kept spare in case anyone else wanted more, then leaned back and placed her arms behind her to keep her from falling over. They had been talking for a while now when they managed to creep into the topic of Aang's teaching.

"I hear that you have been practicing the four elements" Iroh stated

"Well, not exactly…" Aang replied

"Aang still needs to learn fire bending." Katara butt in

"I did find a fire bending teacher, buuut he kinda had to leave. And I…burned Katara…"

Zuko suddenly looked furious. _How could he have been so careless as to burn Katara?!_

"But it was OK, because I have healing abilities!" Katara butt in again.

"I was playing about with the fire that I created…and things got out of control…" Aang hung his head in shame.

_How could he have been so stupid!? Did this teacher tell him that fire bending was dangerous? Why did he think the Fire Nation were winning the war?!_

"I never wanted to fire bend again, but when I went to see Guru Pathik, he taught me that I would have to learn fire bending in order to go into the Avatar State at my own will."

"If it's not any bother, I would be glad to teach you fire bending." Iroh smiled at the young boy and Aang grinned back.

"That would be great!" Aang gleed as he jumped up with air bending. "When do we start?"

"Aang it's best if you don't rush these things. We need to make a routine." Katara said as if not talking to anyone in particular.

"…OK" Aang sat back down and placed his hands on his lap and looked at he.

"How about this, Aang you could Firebend with Iroh in the morning, Earthbend with Toph in the afternoon, and Waterbend with me at night before we go to sleep."

"That sounds like a good routine." Aang replied.

"Firebending will have to be after breakfast so that you have the energy to practice and learn. Then we will have lunch before your earthbending training and dinner before our waterbending training," Katara continued.

Zuko was still quite mad with Aang, but his face had relaxed and was now quietly looking at the floor.

"And Sokka will get the breakfast from now on!" Katara aimed at Sokka. Sokka jumped.

"What? Why?!"

"Because someone else has to get breakfast while you are still fast asleep! So from now on whenever we want breakfast, I'm going to wake you up so that you can be the strong warrior you keep bragging on about!"

"Hey I…"

Katara crossed her arms "Yes?"

"Ah Whatever…"

"I thought so." She undid her arms and cupped her hands. Sokka sat back and sulked in shame of his defeat against his younger sister.

"We'd better get started right away!" Aang said excitedly.

"Aang we don't want to rush. Remember that Iroh has to regain his strength before we start anything too extreme." Katara said assuring Iroh.

"Oh, OK…" with a sound of disappointment in his voice.

Zuko noticed his tone, and his face grew furious again. _How can he not think of others?! How can he not care about my uncles health?!_

In the meantime, Aang went off with Toph to practice advanced earthbending, Sokka went off to test his boomerang and Iroh was told to get some more rest. Katara and Zuko went to find nearby water to practice their elements. Katara walked into the waters until she was knee deep, and Zuko stood on the edge and practiced shooting fire without hitting any trees. After about ten minutes of practicing, the two benders looked at each other and smirked. Katara turned her body, balancing the iceberg using waterbending and Zuko stood near the edge and brought out two long fire whips from each hand. Katara did the same with water. They looked at each other for a moment before Zuko took the first strike. Knocking the fire whip away she extended the water and made it slide over Zuko's arm. The water froze and Zuko looked at it for a moment before breaking it apart with his free handed fire whip. Making another fire whip for his other hand, he lengthened the whip and made a direct hit to the water whips trying as hard as he could to avoid her in general. Katara used the majority of the lake to make a huge wave that was over towering Zuko. His body didn't move but instead just stood with an angered expression on his face, although he was smiling slightly. Katara landed and brought the large wave round into a hollow circle that had both Katara and Zuko in. She brought the large hollow water circle in closer so that their bodies were almost touching the edges of the water. They were just a few feet away from each other. Zuko blasted a large fireball to one side of the large circle and some of the circles water that encased them dissolved.­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­ Their smirks appeared once again and their eyes met. Katara took the opportunity to win this match. Katara ran forward heading directly for Zuko's stomach. He readied his stance but Katara tackled him and pushed him into the water.

Katara looked down at him and began to laugh

"What's so funny?!" Zuko replied in a miffed off voice

"I so won that match!" Katara gasped for breath from her laughing. Zuko smirked once more and grabbed her hand. Katara's eyes shot open as he pulled. She fell into the water and came up with an angered expression. This time Zuko laughed.

"You were saying?" Zuko asked Katara in his usual sarcastic voice, but with a laughter added as well.

Zuko was still laughing with his eyes closed when he felt something soft touch his lips. His eyes shot open to see Katara with hers closed. She parted away from him and looked him in the eye,

"I was saying…" as she drew in for another. They closed their eyes and relaxed. They were soaking wet and very cold but too embraced to do anything about it. He placed his hand on her cheek. Her skin was soft and her breath was warm on his face. They parted even though they could have spent forever in that moment, but knew they had to get back to camp to get lunch prepared. They stood up and Katara waterbended the water out of her clothes and Zuko evaporated the water out of his. They slowly walked back to camp with smiles on their faces.


	8. Good Morning

**Wow long time since I updated! Anyways, there will be more Zutara later on. Sorry bout the wait. Enjoy!**

Zuko awoke extra early the next morning to hunt for breakfast. Everyone else was still fast asleep. He got out of his sleeping bad and stretched and yawned. He grabbed his broadswords and made his way into the forest. Soon after he set off he found a young Sabre tooth moose lion. It only had small fang-like teeth coming out of its mouth, and Zuko thought of it being not so dangerous. He crept slowly up to the beast and waited for it to turn its back on him. Zuko quickly stood up and blasted fire balls at it. The creature collapsed in pain and howled as blood and burns spread across its body. Zuko smirked and walked over to the dying beast that lay before him. Zuko quickly killed it and bound its legs together. Zuko tried to carry it, but the weight of the animal was straining his back. He dropped the animal to the ground and wondered how his would get the creature back to the campsite even though it wasn't too far away. Dragging seemed to be the best option available, but even that was a struggle. He finally made it back to the campsite just when people were starting to stir from their sleep. With one last pull, he heaved the animal near last night's fire. Katara sat up and yawn out her sleep. She opened her eyes to find a sabre tooth moose lion lying next to a now burning fire. Her eyes widened to the sight before her. Zuko was sitting next to the fire playing with the flames. She quickly got out of her sleeping back and ran over to the soon to be breakfast. Zuko turned to see Katara with her mouth slightly open with a slight smile kneeling next to the creature.

"Good morning"

"How did you manage to capture a creature this size?!" Katara said still with a surprised expression on her face.

"Well I thought it would be nice to have a change from fish" Zuko replied giving credit to Toph's remark yesterday.

"I can't believe that you would go through the trouble of capturing a young adult Sabre tooth moose lion!" Katara said as she got up to sit next to Zuko.

"Well I noticed Sokka hadn't awoken yet so I went and did the job for him" he said jokingly.

Zuko and Katara smiled at each other before being interrupted by a large rumble coming from the direction of Toph's earth tent.

"Did someone mention a word other than fish?!" she said as the door shook and shifted back into the earth.

"Zuko went hunting this moring while we were still asleep. I was really nice of him." Katara looked back into Zuko's eyes and he the same. Toph smirked behind them. She could feel the vibrations of Katara's heart pounding.

Aang moaned slightly as he stretched on Appa's large tail. Zuko, Katara and Toph turned their heads to see Aang sitting up. He airbended himself up and drifted through the air and landed near Toph.

"Good morning!"

"Hey Aang. I'll get breakfast ready." Katara walked over to Sokka's sleeping bag and drew out a knife. She walked over to the animal and started to cut away at its flesh. Once she had cut off enough for everyone, including Sokka who ate twice as much as everyone else, she gathered some sticks to put the meat through and placed them above the fire. Aang went to gather some more sticks to hold the stick with meat on it up so that Katara could be released from the strain in her hand. Every so often she rotated the stick.

"I'll get some water from the lake." Zuko stood up to get the bucket but Katara grabbed his hand.

"No! You have done your share for the day." Katara said with a smile looking in his eyes. Zuko sat back down and Katara rotated the meat again.

"Good morning," Toph said with a smile. Everyone looked at her to see she was looking at Iroh who had just awoken.

"Are you feeling any better?" Toph continued

"Yes thank you. I feel a lot better and may even be able to start your fire bending Aang" Iroh said as he walked over to the fire and sat down next to Zuko. Toph came over and sat next to Iroh.

"I'm gonna go get some berries." Aang said starting to walk off

"OK but don't be too long." Katara said back to Aang.

"OK" Aang replied with a smile.

The smell of cooking meat reached Sokka's nose and he sat up and sniffed the air. He opened his eyes and yawned. He reluctantly got out of his warm sleeping bag, even though his stomach was rumbling like crazy.

"Well it's nice to see you did a great job of getting up and hunting for something other than fish!" Katara said sarcastically. Everyone laughed while Sokka cornered and sulked near a tree.

Katara handed out the meat and passed it round. She served Sokka two pieces to make him feel better. He took them and she smiled at him.

"Come on Sokka, I forgive you, Zuko went and got the meat for us. Wasn't that nice of him?" His eyes widened at this as she turned and walked back to the group. Something was going on, and he didn't like it.


	9. Moving On

**Sorry about VERY slow updates, but I'm in the middle of Exams, so updates will not come as quickly as I want them to, but hey here's Chapter 9!**

As dawn approached everyone readied their things for the journey. Katara had said that they needed to get a good nights work in, in order for them to make any progress. Everyone thought this a good idea and got everything together and packed up on Appa. Katara was loading a heavy object onto Appa's saddle but couldn't quite manage it. Sokka was about to leave the food supply to help her but was too late. Zuko looked at her and went over to help her lift it on. Once it was on, she turned her head and smiled at him, and he smiled back. Sokka's eyes narrowed at Zuko and turned to finish packing up the food. Aang and Toph loaded things to Iroh who sat on Appa's saddle with earthbending and Iroh dragged them over to a spot to be tied up. Once everything was packed they set off.

They had not long left when Toph spoke first.

"Can I just ask where we're going?" Everyone looked at each other then Katara broke the silence.

"I guess we should move towards the fire nation…"

"Katara are you crazy? Do you want to get us into more trouble than we are already in now?" Sokka waved his arms around trying to get some sense into his sister for once about the fire nation.

"Sokka, the only possible move is to go to the fire nation. We can't go back home it would take too long! And the Northern water tribe is much too far for us to defeat the fire lord before the comet comes. Where do you think we'll go? The Earth Kingdom? Omashu? Yeah they are REALLY safe now!" Katara ended with a sarcastic tone to her voice.

"But the fire nation is dangerous! They could scold us or possibly KILL us if we're found!" Zuko looked away from the group and the word "scold" went running through his mind. He moved his hand towards his scar and touched it as he closed his eyes.

"Sokka just relax for once! Not all the fire nation are bad!" She said pointing to Iroh and Zuko. Zuko looked up towards Katara.

"Katara have you completely forgotten what happened to mom?!"

Katara moved her hand pointing to Zuko and Iroh back in and down into her lap. She hung her head and closed her eyes. The expression on her face showed that she was trying to forget that dreadful day…

"I haven't forgotten Sokka…but we have no other option"

Sokka's face calmed down slightly as his arms held each others. Nobody talked for the rest of the journey. Night was beginning to fall when they were soon flying over a woodland area.

"We should rest for tonight" Aang said sleepily as he drew Appa down into a clearing below them.

Everyone was just about to nod off when Appa landed with a large thud, and then everyone assumed he too was tired. They didn't bother to unpack everything for tonight, but instead would wait until morning to set up camp. For the time being they just got out their sleeping bags and blankets. Zuko lit a fire to keep them warm through the night and went to sleep himself.

**I know it's short but it's quite relevant. Please review **


	10. Dancing With Winds

**OK next chapter will be sooner than I expected due to a lot of free time. So anyways here's Chapter 10, enjoy!**

The next morning brought them a warm wind flying through the air and everyone woke up at about the same times. Iroh knew what this wind meant but tried not to make a deal about it for now. Everyone tried to remain focused as random objects belonging to the group began to move with the wind. Sokka was the one who was trying to keep everything in one pile but was having a hard time as the wind got rougher. The fire was being blown out and everyone's hair whipped their faces and they tried to set everything up.

"This is hopeless! We're never going to get the camp set up with weather like this!" Toph said as she tried to avoid the objects flying towards her, but her luck was wearing thin due to her not being able to 'feel' the objects coming towards her.

Everyone looked at her with squinted eyes as they tried to keep the rushing wind from their sight. They all knew she was right and all gave hopeless faces looking at the ground. Aang looked towards the sky and leaped up using the wind to hold him there for a while. Whilst he was up there he tried looking around for somewhere better to stay rather than the windy area that seemed to laugh at the trees in their way. He soon caught sight of a mountainous area where small dark holes could be seen even from where they where. Aang landed and looked at everyone whilst they all looked at Aang.

"I know where we can get a better place to stay! But it's going to be a bit dangerous!" Aang shouted at the howling wind muffled his voice slightly. Everyone chased their belongings and managed to load up Appa once again. Everyone was trying to balance themselves and trying so hard not to fall off Appa's saddle. Zuko and Toph clung onto the right side of Appa's saddle, ringing their arms round through the holes at the side, while Sokka and Iroh clung onto the other side. Katara held on to Zuko for dear life as though she had never flown Appa before, and Zuko wrapped his arm around her waist and grabbed hold of the other arm the was ringed through the hole. Aang clung onto the reigns that were secure onto Appa's horns. Although Aang wouldn't die if he fell he still felt unsure about the rest of the group whom if they fell, would fall to their deaths. Aang steadied Appa and the wind roughly blew them to the side and Aang was using all his strength to get Appa to the mountains. They were almost at the mountains when suddenly a massive force of wind knocked Appa jolting his to the side. Everyone screamed and Appa groaned as he tried to alter himself to go straight. Zuko and Katara's grip loosened and they both screamed when Katara lost her grip and went flying into the air. Zuko quickly grabbed her arm and tried to pull her back into his brace. Everyone looked at Katara back to Zuko and back to Katara, all knowing that they couldn't help them else they would fly off too. Appa jolted and flung back into his straightened angle. Katara was forced into Zuko's chest and she quickly clung to him, as he did with her. Aang steered Appa at an angle and they bounced back as Appa landed. They looked up to see a large hole in the side of the mountain. Everyone was about to get off when Appa walked in. they all ducked their heads trying not to jump through fear of hitting them. Appa stopped and lay down at the back of the cave. Everyone got down and began to unpack. Once everything was set up the group decided that it was best if they used whatever was left to cook up for dinner. What was left, however, was the remains of the Sabour-toothed moose lion, a few berries and a small pouch of water. They somehow managed to feed everyone, with Sokka's sulking due to his lack of two meals. The group hardly talked but listened outside as the wind slowly died down. The noises echoing in the cave were almost like a lullaby, drifting the group to sleep. Zuko and Katara slept near each other, and Aang tried to shift away from Toph to get closer to Katara, which did not amuse Toph at all, Sokka slept closest to the fire and Iroh sat upright resting his back on Appa's paw. The wind eventually faded away, but the group had already been taken away into slumber, and their dreams danced around their minds like festivals.

**Short, I know, but hey my Zutara fangirlism is GOING to get the better of me one day, and I will put in some lurve XD**

**Please R+R )**


	11. Flames Will Hurt

**Ooh! It gets In-ter-res-tang! Teehee! Enjoy!**

The next day found Katara and Zuko waking up before everyone else. Katara made her way to the pouch of water that was lying to the side of the deep sleeping Appa, and she turned to walk out when she noticed Zuko getting up. She walked over to him, and quietly let out her first words of the day.

"Hey there, do you want to come with me to find some water?"

Zuko turned round quickly to see Katara with dark circles around her eye.

"Um, yeah but I was going to get the fire going"

"Please? I need some help bringing some food back"

"Fine then" Zuko said with a slight annoyance in his voice. They made their way out of the entrance and down the mountain.

­­­­­­­­­­

Aang opened his eyes slowly and saw blurred images of Katara and Zuko standing together talking. They then made their way out of the cave entance and down the side of the mountain. Aang got up and ran up to the entrance to see Zuko helping Katara down a steep part of the mountain. Aangs eyes widened slightly, where is Zuko taking Katara?

Toph was quite annoyed by the amount of vibrations Aang was giving off, considering he's an Airbender, and got up from her make-shift earth bed. Aang heard her rustling and quickly moved his head in her direction.

"What are you doing?" Toph asked in suspicion.

"I'm…er…not doing anything!" Aang quickly answered.

"Then why are you spying on Katara and Zuko?"

"I'm not spying! I'm just making sure they're safe"

"You mean making sure Katara's safe"

"Yeah but…I'm…Katara's"

"Don't you trust Zuko alone with Katara?"

"…Of course I do!"

"Then why are you spying on them?"

"…I just don't want him to hurt her"

"I very much doubt that he'll hurt her"

"How do you know that! He could easily hurt her with his firebending!"

"I know I'm blind, but I'm not stupid"

"What do you mean?"

"If you haven't notice yet Twinkle Toes, Zuko hasn't been his '_angsty_' self lately"

"That could…be his decision to join the group…"

"Um hello! Zuko is obviously being a lot nicer with Katara"

"Yeah but he's also being nice with the rest of the group you know!"

"Grr! Get it in your head! Zuko likes Katara!"

"…What?"

"You heard me"

"…maybe Katara doesn't feel the same way…"

"Then why is she letting Zuko help her down the cliff?"

"Because…she could easily fall…"

"I give up with you sometimes" With that, Toph made her way over to her earth bed and lay back down on it, turning her body away from Aang.

_This can't be, Katara can't like Zuko, he betrayed her in Ba Sing Se, she had trusted him, but he had abused it…but then he came back…_

Aang turned back to look at Toph and gave her an angry look from behind. He turned back and followed Zuko and Katara down the cliff. They had almost reached the bottom when they looked back up at it. Aang quickly hid himself behind a bush and watched from his position. He could just make out the words they were saying even when he was no where near the ground yet.

"Wow that was quite high considering it doesn't look it from the cave itself."

Aang looked at them, repeating in his mind that nothing was going on.

"Thank you for helping me down"

"It's OK"

That's nothing, Aang thought to himself. He was busy think it was nothing when he noticed that she was walking with her head leaning on his shoulder. Aangs heart ached, how could she possibly love him? They barely knew each other…unless, no wait! They couldn't possibly have done anything in Ba Sing Se, not in the caves! They hate each other! I'm sure of it…

Aang followed them to a river when Zuko sat on the bank and Katara waterbended some water into the pouch she had brought with them. She sat down next to Zuko and put the pouch down next to her. She leaned her head against his arm and he put his arm around her waist. Aang watched as the two of them just sat there gazing into the water. Aang still couldn't bring himself to think that Toph had been right…they like each other…Katara doesn't like me—He realised that they had begun to walk in his direction. Panicking he hurried in another direction where he could just see them walk past from behind the trees. He had to think quickly… 'I know, I'll collect berries so that they won't know I've been checking on them…'

Aang came back to the smell of smoke coming from the cave. He hurried towards it thinking the worst, but just as he was about to come in to save everyone, he found out that he had nothing to fear. Sokka had made the same error when he had awoken due to Zuko's firebending and Sokka's annoyance, making the flames go out of control, but Zuko managed to calm them down before they burned everyone to a crisp. Aang ran over to Katara who was choking on some smoke still left in the cave and knelt down beside her.

"Are you OK?"

"Yes…_cough_...Aang"

"I was worried you had been burned"

"Aang I just said I was fine, Sokka was the one who had set Zuko off"

"Zuko might have hurt you"

"Aang don't be silly! Zuko would never hurt anyone"

Aang knelt there momentarily lost for words. Katara placed a hand on his shoulder and getting up spoke.

"Don't worry so much, I'm fine…really" With that she walked over to the fire leaving Aang kneeling there watching her walk towards the flames that could quite easily burn her.

Zuko was rubbing part of his hand where he had been burnt. He gasped and Katara came over with her water pouch and formed a glove around her hands hand wrapped them around his. Aang watched as Zuko's pained face turned into a smile looking at Katara who smiled back. She got up and walked towards Appa placing the water pouch next to him. Aang shuffled round and brought his knees up to his chest wrapping his arms around them and placing his head ontop. He looked up to see Toph near the entrance looking at his as if to say '_I told you so_'

**And there was chapter 11! Mwhahaha! cough Anyways yes please R+R and niceness is appreciated :)**


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